Ignition system for combustion-engines.



//I///////IIIII/IIII/l/fl c. F. emnme. IGNITION SYSTEM FOR COMBUSTION ENGINES.

APPLICATION FILED IULY 29- I914- Patented Feb. 5,1918.

2 SHEETSSIIEET I.

c. F. KETTERlNG IGNITION SYSTEM FOR COMBUSTION ENGINES.

APPLICATION'FILED IULY 29, 19]1. 1,255,177, Patented Feb. 5,1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET Z.

Vl/[fnesses f B7 w f A. ZTorneys.

STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES I. KETTERING, OF DAYTON, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE DAYTON ENGINEERING l LABORATORIES COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

IGNITION: SYTEM FOB COMBUSTION-ENGINES.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, CHARLES residing at Dayton, county of Montgomery,

,5 and S ate of Ohiog'have invented certz nn new and useful Improvements in Ignition Systems for Combustion-Engines, of which the following is a full, clear, and 'exact deis invention relates.

scri tion. a a

to 1gn1t1on sist'ems for internal combustion engines, e-

ing an improvement in devices intended for I this purpose which is automatic in operation and designed to efiect the most advantali geous ignition during, the operation of the engine -i0r ia1l speeds at which it may be r'unning.

:Itis w'ell knownithatone obstacle to the economic operation of such engine's. When-- subject to c'onstantly varymg speeds the usual manually operated spark control is sufficient, if not-necessary, and my 1m proveinents contemplate the use of such devices as' heretofore; but as suchdevices require for their most efiicient operation the 'constant attention of the operator, the improved device which I have designed is intended, to supplement the eflect of such .man-' uni-means by automatically varying the time of the occurrence of the spark, according to as the speedvo f the engine, so that at alltimes the most favorable ignition conditions will be maintained without the attention ofthe operator.

One 'of the features of this combined auto- 40 matic and manual control is that the range of the automatic'control-may be changed by the manual operation, so that the complete i; ,-from-.d i e rnt' points.by the adjustment of 4-51the manualmeans.

V In the operation of internalfcombnstiom engines, "it hasbeen found that a greater variation in the time of occurrence of the spark in the ignition system is'requircd'to efficiently provide ignitions for engine.

speeds varying from-zero to an intermediate speed," than is required for engine speeds ranging from an lnterrnediate to a maximum point, and one of theresults'of my 1mprovement is the provision of a means,

Specification otLetten Patent.

, F. Kenna: ING, citizen 'of the United States of America,

Patented Feb. 5, 1918.

Application ma July 29, 1914. Serial No. 853,785.

whereby a greater variation in the time of the occurrence of the spark will take place during the range of engine 5 eed from zero to an interme iate point, tian occurs for speeds ranging from an intermediate to a maximumvspeed. I

Automatic devices responsive to variations in engine speed, which control the ignition system in'v arious ways, have heretofore been employed both with and without the usual manually controlled mechanism, so that my invention hereinafter to be described will be found to reside in the novel construction of my device rather than in its general func-* tion.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figurel is a verticalsectional view of an improveddistributing and spark timing ap paratus constructed according to my inven tion.

Fig. 2 is aview, part] in section and partlyrin side elevation, 0 the same mechanism.

Fig. 3' is a top plan view of the timer'casiiig, showing the arrangement of the timer cam and cooperating contacts.

Fig. i is a detail view in perspective of part of the interior mechanism'of the device. Fig, 5 is a detail view of the ring gov ernor member. i

' Figs'.-6,:7 and 8 are detail perspective view's'of certain of the' arts of the device to be more fully hereina ter described.

' In the drawings, to which reference will now be made, the. numeral 1 indicates the casing containing the instrument and which,

in practice, is mounted in the most advantageous position possible with respect to the engine with which itis designed to be used,

A shaft 2 revolved by and synchronously with' the main shaft of thecngine extends I through air opening in the bottom of the rangcpfaautomatimcontrol may be started 'slotted endvportion 3, the slfit being desi ter '01 timer shait, inasmuch as adjacent to" its up er end the timer cam 6 is secured while its eictrcme end is connected with and serves to rotate the rotor 7 of the usual distributer 8. f The ignition'itiming and (Ilistributing. mechanism, including. the timer contacts and the actn-atingcam in connection with the distributing system, are now well im- .low sleeve 5, whichYeonstitutes the distribu dcrstood by those skilled in the art, and

therefore require no specific description in connection with the operation and relations of the contact arm 9 between the timer cam 6 and the fixed contact pin 10.

'lhe-distributershaft is provided at its upper and lower ends,with ball or roller.

bearings 11- which are secured within the uppenand lower walls of the timer casing 1 and are securely held in place by lock nut 12,-

which has a screw threaded engagement with the lower end of the outer sleeve or shaft 5. A' collar 13 loosely surrounds the shaft '5 and is provided with an annular groove,

wherein are located lugs or rollers 15, Fig. 8, which, in turn, are carried by the yoke memberlfl. This yoke member is secured to.

the rod 17, pivotally mounted in the casing 1, and extending out from the same, to connect with any suitable manual device for effecting-the adjustmentof' the'collar 13 through the movement of the yoke mem her 16.. i

Th collar 13 .has a pair of upright arms 18, to the upper ends of whichthere 1s pivoted, as shown at 19' in Fig, 2,11 ring memh'er20. The arms 18 areprovided with slots shaft 5 and the top of the collar.

21, through which passes a transverse m 22, which also extends through the lower portion of a collar 23, as well as-through a spiral slot 24 cut or formed in the distributer shaft 5, and the straight s1ot'4 in the shaft 2; From Fig. 6, which is a detailperspective view of this pin 22, it willhe seen that the intermediate portion of the same which fits the straight slot4 oi shaft 2 is reduced in thickness and-is rectangular in cross-section.

111 one of the uprights l8. This reduction in necessary.

and the structure of the rin 'that the initial tendency "of th .to move more ra'pidlyat the start and during' the earlier stages of its operation, as

Consequently, any movement of the sleeve 5 relative to the shaft 2, and to its normal rotation, will efiect a corresponding relative movement between the 'timergam 6 and the shaft 2, and distributor rotor 7 and the shaft 2.

Inorder that the ring or governor mem-. her 20 may controlthe movement of the col- ]ar 23, and the pin 22, and thus controlthe advance or retardation of the timer cam and rotor of the distributer, a positive connection between the ring 20 and the collar 23 One we of accomplishing" this. is clearly shown in i 1, wherein a studor projection 28 is rigid ysecured to the ring 20, andhas its free end engaging the annu 'la'r groove'29 in the collar 23, thus permit-. ting a free rotatable movement of the collar,

but effecting a concurrent movement of the collar in accordance with the vertical movement of the governor ring.

From the peculiar nature of the springi27 20,. it results ering will be the centrifugalforce is greater then than when it is approaching a point of balance, when the tension of the spring is increasing.

This will give exactly the result desired, in-v asinuch as when the engine starts fronr an size and peculiar formation of the; int'er- -mediate and one of the endportion's ofithe pin 22 facilitates .the assembling of certain of the cotiperating elements and alsotencls 'to-lock the pin in applied position, but in placement 'acotter pin 25-, or other suitable stop element, may besecured in the reduced or flattened end of the same at 26'. Thecollar 23 is normally maintained in position. below the axis of the ring'inember 20, by means of aspiralspring 27, interposed betweenQ-ayfixed 'stop near the to 'of 'the 'l im collar 23, as has heretoforebeen stated, carries the transverse [3111.22, and upon'an vertical movement ofthe collar, either un er c'ontrol of the automatic governor member 20, which when rotated'tends to assume a horizontal position,'or through the adjustment of thc timer mechanism hereinbefore set forth, will cause a movement of the dis tributcr shaft '5, relative to the-noganal posithe driving shaft 2.

eXtremelylmv: speed and is brought a normal driving speed, a much greater ad ustment or regulation of the time of sparking must occur, as compared with the adj ustment necessar' for the change, from normal drivin con itions to extremelyfhigh speeds.

I Vh 1 le {the 'form of mechanism hereinshown-and. described constitutes a preferred form of embodiment of the invention, it is :to be understood that other forms might be adopted, all coming within the scope of the .order to insure the pin against accidental dis-"- clainislwhich follow.-

.WhatIclaiinis:'

p 1. In an. ignition Y system for combustion shaft, a sleeve connected therewith a plar'ality of collars; an arm connected to one'of.

saidcollars, a pin'connected to said annand passin through an angular 'slot in; the sleeve .anda ongitudinal slot in said shaft; agovernor mounted on the above mentioned arm engines, the combination with a 'driving and'connec'ted'with said collar; a regulating spring for resisting saidi governor; and meals for -ad u'st1ng' one' of the other collars longitudinallyon said sleeve.

'-2.. In 'an' ignition system, the combination with a set of contact elements operable to open and close anignition I circuit; of a driven timer cam to operate said contact elements; automatically controlled mechanism :timing of the sparking impulses; and man operable'to advance the timer cam through-- out'a' determinedrange of movement rela tive to' its ordinary movement to vary the ment without afi'ecting the adjusted position of the automatically controlledmechanism.

pally controlled means for adjusting the timer cam relative to its ordinary movement without affecting the operative range' of movement of the speed controlled mechanism.

3. In an ignition system, the combination of a set of contact elements operable to open and close an ignition circuit; of adriven timer cam to operate said contact elements; automatically controlled mechanism for advancing the timer cam throughout a determined range of movement relative to the ordinary movement of said cam to vary the timing of the sparking impulses; and manually controlled means for actuating the automatically controlled mechanism to adjust the timer cam relative to its ordinary move- 4. In an ignition system, the combination of a set of contact elements operable to open andqclosean ignition circuit; of a timing devieegoperable to actuate said contact elementsg'automatically controlled mechanism to adjust said timing device throughout a determined range of movement relative to its ordinary movement; and manually operable means for adjusting the timing device relative to its ordinary movement to'vary the timing of the sparking impulses,.saidmanually operable means being effective to adjust the timing device irrespective of the point of adjustment effected by the automatically controlled means without altering therange of movement of the autom: tically controlled mean:v

5. In an ignition system for combustion engines, the combination with a driving shaft, a sleeve connected therewith; a timer cam associated with said sleeve; a collar; an

'arm connected to-said collar; 2 pin conneeted to said arm and passing through an angular slot in the sleeve and. a longitudinal slot in said shaft; a governor mounted on the above mentioned arm and connected with said collar; aregulating spring for resisting the movement of said governor; and means independent of said governor for adjusting said collar longitudinally on said sleeve and thereby efi'ecting relative move ment between the timer cam and the driving shaft, and also compressing said regulating spring, whereby to increase the resistance of said spring relative to the actuation of the governor.

6. In an ignition system, the combination with automatically controlled mechanism for varying the time of the sparking impulses in an ignition circuit including a cam carrying sleeve provided with a spiral slot; an engine driven shaft provided with .a straight slot; a pin passing through both trifugal governor.

In testimony whereof I atlix my signature in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

CHARLES F. KETTERING, Witnesses:

J. T. MCDONALD, Nan-Ina W. Roman.

till 

